By suing the 90-year-old Greenbrae man he allegedly tried to kill during a burglary, Samuel Cutrufelli lit a roaring grease-fire of vitriol on social media, much of it from gun-rights advocates.

"Typical lib California attitude," said one Facebook commenter. "Moron commits a crime and blames the victim. This is why you shoot to kill the scum when they break in."

"This is why you shoot to kill, and keep shooting until the perp is horizontal," said another. "Dead men file no lawsuits."

"Kill the SOB and take him off the taxpayer doll," wrote another, misspelling "dole."

But Cutrufelli's lawyer, Sanford Troy, says the negligence lawsuit has "extremely good chances" of success if Cutrufelli is acquitted in Marin Superior Court. And he says the critics are only considering one side of the story.

"All of the people that are commenting believe Mr. Cutrufelli is guilty," said Troy, 60. "And that's not the American system of justice. They're entitled to their opinion, but Mr. Cutrufelli is entitled to the presumption of innocence."

Cutrufelli, 31, is near the end of his criminal trial on charges of attempted murder, burglary and other counts for the Jan. 3 episode at Leone's home. He could face life in prison if convicted of the charges.

The prosecution says Cutrufelli entered Leone's house, put a gun to his head, tied his hands with a belt and rummaged through his bedroom for valuables. Leone, a World War II veteran, said he was able to wriggle his hands free, then convinced the burglar to let him use the bathroom. Then he got one of the five handguns stashed in his bathroom, sneaked back to the bedroom and spotted Cutrufelli in his closet.

Cutrufelli allegedly fired his gun, hitting Leone in the jaw area, and Leone fired back, hitting Cutrufelli four times. Cutrufelli then wrestled his gun away, put it to Leone's head and pulled the trigger, but no bullets were left in the gun, authorities said.

When police found Cutrufelli bleeding in his car a short distance from Leone's home, he said he had shot himself and needed medical attention, Twin Cities police said.

Troy, the defense attorney, has argued that Cutrufelli was a methamphetamine user, that the incident was a botched drug deal with someone else in the home, and that Leone shot him in the back when he was trying to flee.

On Oct. 18, Troy filed a civil lawsuit on behalf of his client, claiming Leone "negligently shot" Cutrufelli and caused "great bodily injury, and other financial damage, including loss of Mr. Cutrufelli's home, and also the dissolution of Mr. Cutrufelli's marriage." Cutrufelli, a Petaluma resident who grew up in Novato, has two children.

"It's a substantial case," Troy, a former prosecutor and public defender, said of the civil lawsuit. "It's definitely a six-figure case. It may be a seven-figure case."

Troy said he claimed negligence, not the more severe allegation of an "intentional act," because it is not his desire to exceed Leone's homeowner insurance policy.

"I'm after justice, that's all," said Troy, who is based in Sonoma County. "I don't want Mr. Leone to be in a position where he loses his house. I'm seeking justice, not an injustice."

Troy has yet to serve the lawsuit on Leone, who has said he will countersue if necessary. Troy also said that if Cutrufelli is convicted on all counts in the criminal trial, he might advise Cutrufelli not to pursue the lawsuit, but that ultimately it is the client's decision.

Law professor John Diamond, who is not involved in the case, said Cutrufelli's lawsuit "does not appear to be very viable at all," if the prosecution's version of events is accurate.

"People can bring whatever lawsuits they want, but self-defense, particularly in one's own dwelling, in response to a threat of violence, is appropriate," said Diamond, a Tiburon resident who teaches civil and criminal law at the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, in San Francisco. "If it were another set of facts where the perpetrator had clearly left the scene and was running away and was clearly was not a threat anymore, it could be a different situation."

Wes Reber Porter, associate professor and director of the Litigation Center at the Golden Gate University School of Law in San Francisco, also took a dim view of the lawsuit.

"While stories of a filed lawsuit like this one often catch fire in the media (and in social media), the burglar's personal injury action should not succeed in civil court and, in my opinion, should be thrown out by the judge pretrial," Porter said in an email. "A criminal court would consider the victim home-owner's actions, a crime of intentional battery, as justified by the burglar's intrusion into the home. A civil court can reach the same conclusion.

"I believe that a civil court should do so pretrial, on a motion by the homeowner, finding that no reasonable juror could find that the victim's actions were not justified by the home invasion."

Cutrufelli's lawsuit is scheduled for a case management conference on March 13 before Judge Roy Chernus.

Closing arguments in the criminal trial are set for Monday before Judge Andrew Sweet.